On 25 September 2015, upon the expiration of the 3 years mandate of the Frontex Consultative Forum's on Fundamental Rights (CF) , the members of the CF belonging to Civil Society organisations will be selected following a public call for applications and on the basis of the pre-defined eligibility and selection criteria enclosed. If your organisation is interested in becoming a member of the CF, please read carefully the Background Note for the Public Call for Applications and send a completed Application Form together with supporting documentation to [Você precisa estar registrado e conectado para ver este link.] and/or [Você precisa estar registrado e conectado para ver este link.] by 12 July 2015. moremore

NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Berlin on Tuesday, 30 June 2015 to attend a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO where he will deliver a key note speech.During his visit, he will have meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble.Media Advisory12.40 – 13.00 Joint press conference with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs – Federal Foreign OfficeStill and video images will be available after the event on the NATO website.

[size=36]NATO Secretary General to visit Germany[/size]

NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Berlin on Tuesday, 30 June 2015 to attend a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO where he will deliver a key note speech.During his visit, he will have meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble.Media Advisory12.40 – 13.00 Joint press conference with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs – Federal Foreign OfficeStill and video images will be available after the event on the NATO website.

The Hague, The NetherlandsMore than 500 suspects have been arrested in Operation Blue Amber, a series of international actions which were supported by Europol and took place in 260 locations across the world. Between 4 May and 24 June, law enforcement officers from the 28 EU countries and international partners1 joined forces to take out organised crime groups and their infrastructures.From the 24/7 Europol operational coordination centre, Europol’s specialists, liaison officers and colleagues from international law enforcement partners such as SELEC, TISPOL and PCC-SEE, processed incoming criminal intelligence from the EU Member States and produced real-time reporting to those engaged in interventions and operational activity in the field.While several locations were raided, other interventions took place in airports, border-crossing points, ports and specific crime hot spots in towns and cities2.Results from the operational actions include:

more than 500 suspected criminals arrested

2.8 tonnes of cocaine seized

390 vehicles confiscated

nearly 1300 tonnes of stolen metal seized.

[size]Europol officers were also deployed on the spot in various locations, with mobile offices which gave them direct, secure access to Europol's centralised databases and analysis tools.For example, 2.8 tonnes of cocaine and 110 kg of heroin were seized in actions against drugs trafficking. The known modi operandi of high-volume trafficking via containers, and low-volume trafficking via parcels and couriers, was again confirmed. These actions revealed that drugs couriers fly from South America to Europe with cocaine, and that parcels of heroin are sent from Afghanistan/Pakistan to Western Europe, on a daily basis. The concealment methods vary greatly, from hiding cocaine in clothes and shoe insoles, to caching heroin in medical instruments.During the actions, thanks to the close cooperation with countries from the Western Balkans, several facilitators were arrested who were smuggling people to Europe. A ‘safe house’ for irregular migrants was also discovered in Hungary.“Once again we have seen that successful international cooperation can have a major impact on organised crime. The outcome in this operation, with over 500 arrests made, is a reminder to criminals that they should not feel safe anywhere. Europol will continue to support national law enforcement agencies with its unique intelligence and technical capabilities,” says Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol.Operation Blue Amber focused on the ‘EMPACT’ priority crime areas3:[/size]

• Trafficking in human beings

• Facilitated illegal immigration

• Synthetic drugs trafficking

• Cocaine and heroin trafficking

• Firearms trafficking

• Counterfeit goods

• Excise and carousel (MTIC)4 fraud

• Organised property crime

• Cybercrime.

[size]This series of actions follows the successful one-week Operation Archimedes organised last year, which led to the arrest of over 1000 individuals and the seizure of nearly 2.7 tonnes of drugs.The EU’s Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) supported these actions, as they were performed within the framework of the EU priorities (EMPACT) on organised crime.The actions were also supported by private airline companies.[/size]

For mopre details on the results from Operation Blue Amber:

Watch the video

Operation Blue Amber infographic

[size]Further information1 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Iceland, Turkey, Nigeria, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and BoliviaThe Police Community of the Americas (Ameripol), Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe Secretariat (PCC SEE), Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC), European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), Frontex, Interpol and Eurojust2 All these locations had featured variously in Europol’s SOCTA, criminal intelligence reports from EU Member States and third countries, and analytical products drawn from Europol’s criminal databases3 As proposed by the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) of the EU and approved by the Council of EU4 Missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud is a form of sophisticated tax fraud carried out by criminals attacking the value added tax (VAT) regimes of EU Member States[/size]

Global action against online air ticket fraudsters sees 130 detained

The Hague, The Netherlands,

On 16 and 17 June an international law enforcement operation against airline fraudsters took place at 140 airports across the world, resulting in the detention and investigation of 130 individuals that were found in possession of airline tickets bought using stolen credit card details.

According to statistics the most rapid increase in fraudulent transactions on the Internet can be seen in those reported by the airline industry as a result of the fraudulent online purchases of flight tickets using compromised credit card data, often stolen through online data breaches. The airline industry faces huge losses as a result, estimated at EUR 1 billion, and innocent citizens are affected as their credit card data is misused.

The operation was organised globally through three coordination centres at Europol in The Hague, Interpol in Singapore and Ameripol in Bogota, with support from Canadian and US law enforcement authorities. Since airline ticket fraud is a complex and global phenomenon posing certain security issues, targeting the organised crime groups active in this are requires communication between airlines, issuing banks, payment card schemes, IATA and law enforcement on an international level.

Commitment from law enforcement agencies, the private sector and international organisations has increased, meaning that this year's action could take place at 140 airports on five continents (Europe, Asia, Australia, America and Africa), in 49 countries (25 in Europe).

Thirty-eight companies (33 airlines and 5 travel agencies in Europe) reported fraudulent incidents to law enforcement deployed at the airports during the days of actions. Payment card schemes, card issuers, Perseuss and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) supported the operation by providing information to confirm any suspicious fraudulent airline ticket transactions. Other international organisations like Eurojust and Frontex - who deployed officers in 12 airports in Europe - supported the action too.

For this reason, during the two action days a command post was set up at Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), which was complemented by command posts at Interpol in Singapore, Ameripol in Bogota and another one in Canada. At Europol's command post, representatives from the private sector (airlines and major credit card companies American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Visa Inc and Visa Europe) worked closely to identify suspicious transactions and then send confirmation to law enforcement deployed at the airports.

During the operation 222 suspicious transactions were reported by the industry (163 in Europe, 23 in Asia Pacific, 18 in Latin America and 18 in Canada). As a result 130 persons were detained, denied boarding the flights and questioned by police (101 in Europe, 11 in Asia Pacific, 10 in Latin America, 2 in the USA and 6 in Canada).

One of the lessons learned from previous editions is that, although this global action targets criminals suspected of fraudulently purchasing plane tickets online using compromised credit cards, in many cases it was shown how airline fraud is a facilitator of other forms of crime. During the global operation on 16 and 17 June the individuals arrested were involved in other forms of crimes, including trafficking of human beings, illegal immigration, smuggling of goods, drug trafficking, fraud, cybercrime and terrorism. In this sense, this type of action is effective in uncovering other forms of serious crime, providing added security at the airports.

Officers from Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) were present in Singapore and Bogota, while Europol also deployed mobile offices to Athens, London, Madrid and Paris, giving direct, secure access to Europol's centralised databases and analysis tools.

"This operation was the culmination of many months of meticulous planning between Europol, law enforcement, prosecuting and border control agencies, airlines and credit card companies, and is a perfect example of how our combined forces can track down the organised crime gangs involved in this large-scale fraud and other offences. Along with our partners, we are committed to continue developing new levels of cooperation and new methods for fighting this type of crime," said Wil van Gemert, Deputy Director Operations at Europol.

Meta Backman, from the European Airlines Fraud Prevention Group, commented on the operation "Once again the operation was successful and proved worthwhile. As a result of these actions, airlines can already see improved cooperation with card issuing banks, card schemes and law enforcement in their daily fight against credit card fraud. Without the determination and effort of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) this could not have happened.''

Aleks Popovich, IATA Senior Vice President, Financial and Distribution Services, stated: "Fraud represents a significant cost burden for the airline industry, a cost that ends up being passed on to all passengers. Hence, IATA takes a particular interest in all initiatives designed to challenge fraudsters. We are proud to have supported Europol in planning and rolling out this global and hugely successful operation. This illustrates the type of close and trusted collaboration we want to build between the airline industry and law enforcement agencies worldwide.''

This global operation against airline fraudsters is part of Operation Blue Amber1, a series of international actions tackling organised crime which took place in various locations across the world.

Europol will continue to support EU Member States, working closely with the private sector and other international organisations, to improve security at the airports by fighting this type of online fraud.